Entering a rented unit for repairs in Florida: notice, hours and emergencies under 83.53

Suppose a plumber can replace a leaking shower valve in a rented apartment on Thursday at 9 a.m. The tenant works days and has not answered a text. Whether the plumber may go in that morning is a question for section 83.53 of the Florida Statutes, which is short enough to read in a minute and specific enough to schedule by.

What can a Florida landlord enter a rented unit for?

Section 83.53(1) says the tenant shall not unreasonably withhold consent for the landlord to enter from time to time to inspect the premises; make necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations or improvements; supply agreed services; or exhibit the unit to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, "workers, or contractors."

The list matters because subsection (2) gives repair its own rule and handles the other purposes separately.

How much notice does a landlord have to give before a repair visit?

For repairs, section 83.53(2) requires reasonable notice and a reasonable time, and then defines both. Reasonable notice for repair is notice given at least 24 hours before the entry. A reasonable time is between 7:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.

The 24 hours are fairly new. Chapter 2022-222, which may be cited as "Miya's Law," changed the figure from 12 hours to 24, and that change took effect on July 1, 2022. A lease or a vendor template written before then may still say 12. Section 83.47(1)(a) makes a provision in a rental agreement void and unenforceable to the extent that it purports to waive or preclude the rights, remedies or requirements set forth in the same part of chapter 83 that contains section 83.53.

Two things the section leaves out. It does not say the notice must be in writing or how it must be delivered. And it attaches the 24 hours and the 7:30-to-8:00 window to entry "for the purpose of repair"; it says nothing about how long the work may run once the vendor is inside.

Can a landlord enter for other reasons without 24 hours' notice?

For the further purposes listed in subsection (1), the statute sets no notice period. Instead, section 83.53(2) lets the landlord enter when necessary under any of four circumstances:

• With the consent of the tenant.
• In case of emergency.
• When the tenant unreasonably withholds consent.
• When the tenant has been absent for a period equal to one-half the time between rent payments. If the rent is current and the tenant gave notice of the absence, the landlord may enter only with the tenant's consent or for the protection or preservation of the premises.

This is where the kind of vendor visit matters. An inspection, or a walk-through so a contractor can bid on a job, appears on the subsection (1) list apart from repairs, and section 83.53 does not say where a repair ends and an inspection begins. The simplest schedule gives 24 hours' notice for every vendor visit, keeps arrivals inside the window, and asks the tenant for consent, in writing, before walk-throughs and bids.

When can a landlord enter without notice?

Section 83.53(2) opens with its broadest permission: the landlord may enter the unit at any time for the protection or preservation of the premises. An emergency is also one of the circumstances that permit entry. The section does not define emergency.

Water coming through a ceiling from a vacant unit upstairs reads like protecting the premises. A dripping faucet reads like a repair that can wait for notice. Our guide to after-hours emergency triage sorts calls by that question.

One limit applies to every kind of entry. Section 83.53(3) says the landlord shall not abuse the right of access nor use it to harass the tenant.

What other notice rules affect vendor visits?

Pest treatment runs on a longer clock. Under section 83.51(2)(a), the landlord of a unit other than a single-family home or duplex must make reasonable provisions for extermination. If the tenant must temporarily vacate for it, the landlord must give 7 days' written notice, in person, by mail or by e-mail under section 83.505, must abate the rent, and may not require the tenant to stay out for more than 4 days. A treatment that empties the unit needs a week's notice, not a day's. The plain-language guide to section 83.51 covers the rest of that statute.

Keys are the other rule. Miya's Law also added section 509.211(5), which requires each public lodging establishment licensed as a nontransient or transient apartment to keep a log accounting for the issuance and return of all keys for each dwelling unit, and to set policies for issuing and returning keys and for storing unissued ones. The licensee must show proof of compliance on request during the division's annual inspection. The same subsection requires a background screening of each employee under section 83.515. The log has no exception for keys lent to outside vendors.

Not every rental is covered. DBPR's guide to apartments says only buildings or complexes renting five or more units require a nontransient apartment license from its Division of Hotels and Restaurants.

How do you schedule vendor visits so they comply?

A routine built on the statute's text:

1. 1Book the vendor first, then send the notice, so the time in the notice is one the vendor has agreed to.
2. 2Count the 24 hours back from the start of the arrival window, not the end.
3. 3Keep the whole arrival window between 7:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.
4. 4Keep a dated copy of each notice and a note of how it was delivered.
5. 5If the visit moves, send a new notice and count again from the new time.
6. 6For bids, walk-throughs and inspections, ask for the tenant's consent.

Back to the shower valve. A notice sent Wednesday at 8 a.m. for a Thursday window of 9 a.m. to noon gives 25 hours before the earliest arrival. The same notice sent Wednesday at 2 p.m. gives 19, which is short for a 9 a.m. entry.

Permitted work adds a wrinkle, because an inspector also has to get into the unit. Our guide to permits for rental repairs in Orange County covers how inspections are scheduled there.

1Stop Service Pro takes repair requests from property managers and dispatches vetted trade vendors; how it works explains the rest.

Section 83.53 fits on an index card. The work is in keeping the notice and the vendor's calendar saying the same thing.